NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• NorthWestern shares reached a new 52-week high of $76.78 and were last trading near $76.87, up from a prior close of $76.10.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish, with four Buy ratings and three Holds; the consensus target is $73.92, while Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and an $85 target.
• The utility exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.50 and revenue of $392.6 million. It also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, equivalent to a 3.5% yield.

Shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $76.78 and last traded at $76.8740, with a volume of 16,808 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NorthWestern in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded NorthWestern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.92.

NorthWestern Trading Up 1.2%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.85 and a 200-day moving average of $70.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.30.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $386.22 million. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.75%.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,023,230 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,472,000 after buying an additional 5,815 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 803,467 shares of the company's stock worth $52,981,000 after purchasing an additional 36,747 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern during the 1st quarter worth about $43,340,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 277,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,878,000 after purchasing an additional 58,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in NorthWestern by 69.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,164 shares of the company's stock worth $14,847,000 after purchasing an additional 92,134 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NorthWestern

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is a regulated electric and natural gas utility headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company generates, purchases, transmits and distributes electricity, and provides natural gas distribution and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Its operations include electric generation facilities and transmission and distribution networks, as well as natural gas pipelines and distribution systems.

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